Battle of El Caney

The Battle of El Caney was fought on July 1, 1898, during the Spanish-American War. 600 Spanish soldiers held for twelve hours, until they ran out of ammunition, against Henry W. Lawton's 5th US Division, made up of 6,899 men. This action temporarily delayed the American advance on the San Juan Hills, as had been requested of General William Rufus Shafter. Nevertheless, American forces advanced on San Juan Hill the same day. Though encountering spirited resistance similar to El Caney, the Americans were ultimately victorious, culminating in the capitulation of the Spanish garrison.

Background

At El Caney, Cuba, 514 Spanish regular soldiers, together with approximately 100 armed Spanish and Cubans loyal to Spain under the command of Brigadier General Joaquín Vara de Rey y Rubio were instructed to hold the northwest flank of Santiago de Cuba against the American 2nd Division, Fifth Army Corps, commanded by Brigadier General Henry W. Lawton.

Battle

Although the Spanish defenders had no machine guns, they were well equipped with modern smokeless powder rifles and a battery of two modern breech-loading 80mm mountain howitzers (Cañón de 8 cm Plasencia Modelo 1874, designed by Colonel Plasencia of the Spanish Army) that also utilized smokeless ammunition. The Spanish regular infantry was armed with fast-firing M1893 7mm Mauser rifles, while the loyalists were equipped with single-shot Remington Rolling Block rifles in .43 Spanish (using blackpowder). Denied promised reinforcements from Santiago, Vara de Rey and his forces held over 6,000 Americans from their position for nearly twelve hours before retreating, preventing General Lawton's men from reinforcing the U.S. assault on San Juan Hill.

Some of the American forces were hindered by their equipment; in the case of the 2nd Massachusetts, the men were equipped with antiquated black-powder single-shot .45-70 Springfield rifles.